Instant Pot Greek Yogurt

I got an Instant Pot for Christmas and so far I haven’t been able to stop using it. This thing does just about anything you can think of. It is a steamer, rice cooker, pressure cooker, slow cooker, yogurt maker, warmer, saute pan, you name it! I never really thought I would use the yogurt function. I had looked at recipes online and they seemed….well…fussy. But, I made my first batch yesterday and now I don’t see myself buying those sugar laden yogurt cups at the store anymore.

I started with a half batch because I just wasn’t sure what was going to happen. The half batch made about 6-7 servings. It does require a couple of babysitting steps near the beginning but, trust me, it wasn’t hard or fussy. Yes I know it is a lot of steps, but, I promise not a single one of them is hard. Please don’t get scared about having to use a thermometer or having to strain it. This is worth every step. The quality of the end product is exceptional, you know exactly what is in it, AND it is cost effective if you go through a lot of yogurt in your house like we do!

Instant Pot Greek Yogurt

Ingredients

1/2 gallon 2% milk

2 tbs active culture plain yogurt (I used plain Greek)

The first thing I did was sanitize my pot. Some people skip this step. But, since it doesn’t take long at all, I figured, why not? Add a cup of water to the pot, put the lid on, put the knob on sealed setting, hit manual and set the timer for 2 minutes. Once it is done, do a quick release of the steam, pour out the water and dry out the pot. Now put the pot liner back in the Instant Pot.

Pour your milk into the pot. Put the lid on and press the Yogurt button. The screen will read “boil”. At the end of this phase which takes about 15-25 minutes, your milk should have reached 180 degrees. Check with a thermometer to be sure. Now keep the lid off and hit yogurt again and wait 5 minutes. This will keep the milk warm for 5 minutes.

Now, remove the pot liner and place it on a wire rack to cool. Or set it in a shallow ice water bath and stir if you want it to cool faster. Once your milk has cooled to 115 degrees, ladle out 1/2 a cup or so into a small bowl and mix the 2 tbs of yogurt into it. Pour this back into your pot of 115 degree milk. Put the pot of milk back in the Instant Pot, put the lid back on and press the Yogurt button. Use adjust or the +/- keys until you see 8:00 on the panel. Once the 8 hours starts, the clock will start counting UP to 8 hours. Do not be alarmed that it is not counting down like it usually does.

After 8 hours, remove the pot and place it in the fridge overnight. In the morning, your whey will be separated from the yogurt. Strain the contents of your pot. I used a super fine mesh nut milk bag that I got on Amazon. You could easily use cheese cloth or even coffee filters in a pinch. The straining is what gives you a super thick creamy Greek yogurt.

You can use it plain in place of sour cream, eat it as is, or add whatever toppings you like. For this morning’s breakfast I added sugar free strawberry preserves and a small handful of cereal for crunch. YUM!